Through its two games last weekend, the Binghamton women’s soccer team took 43 shots. Of those 43, only three turned into goals.
Falling in its Friday night match against Niagara, Binghamton (4-4) struggled to take advantage of early opportunities. Despite outshooting the Purple Eagles, 16-3, in the first half, BU headed into the locker room tied at zero.
“We just really needed to put Niagara away in the first half,” BU head coach Sarah McClellan said. “We totally dominated them, and we didn’t get anything to show for it. We just weren’t able to keep up that tempo that we had in the second half against them.”
The Bearcats did not carry their high speed of play into the second half. In the 59th minute, Niagara junior defender Bianca Marrara netted the first goal for the Purple Eagles (3-0-1) on only their fifth shot of the evening. In the 72nd minute, Niagara would find the back of the net again to make the score 2-0 in their favor. This time, senior forward Haillie Price headed the ball into the back of the net off of a Niagara corner kick.
Binghamton junior midfielder Katherine Corcoran scored her second goal of the season in the 85th minute, but with only five minutes left in regulation, it was too little too late. BU saw its win streak snapped at three after the 2-1 loss.
“We’re still learning and growing in the game,” McClellan said of her team. “We need to come out and be more confident in the first half.”
In Buffalo, against host Canisius on Sunday, the Bearcats were once again slow to find their offensive rhythm. In a defensive battle between the two squads, Binghamton would only tally four shots in the opening period, the first of which did not come until the 14th minute of play.
In the second half, the Bearcats came out guns ablaze. In the 59th minute, senior back Connie Gormley converted a corner kick from senior midfielder Emily Nuss to score BU’s first goal of the afternoon. The kick from Nuss was one of 10 opportunities from the corner that Binghamton earned in the second period — BU ended the day with a 15-2 advantage in corner kicks.
“We came out hard and really battled in the first half and in the second half we took over,” McClellan said. “Our effort showed up with some great chances.”
The Bearcats continued to dominate for the remainder of the half, holding Canisius to just three shots, compared to their dominant 16. Junior forward Stephani Church put the nail in Canisius’ coffin when she scored off of a loose corner kick, with assists coming from senior midfielder Rebecca Raber and freshman back Valerie McNamara. The final score would hold, and BU came out victorious, 2-0.
Despite the sweetness of their victory at Canisius (1-7), the weekend’s matches — namely at Niagara — highlighted the Bearcats’ struggle with finishing opportunities early. Being shut out in the first half against both Niagara and Canisius, BU has only netted one first-half goal in four games this month.
“I think we need to come out with a little more confidence in the first half in our shooting and hopefully that’s something we can work on this week,” McClellan said. “I’m pleased today that we really competed hard start to finish, so we got a full 90 minutes of a quality game.”
The countdown to Binghamton’s conference opener against Maine on Sept. 28 is now down to two more non-conference games. Scheduled to face St. Bonaventure on Friday evening and host Cornell on Sunday afternoon, the Bearcats will look to capitalize on every opportunity to achieve mid-season form.
“All of our players are so capable,” McClellan concluded. “It’s just a matter of having that real resolve and power behind the shot, and expecting it to go in.”
Kickoff against St. Bonaventure is set for 7 p.m. Friday at McGraw-Jennings Field.